The Escape of a Princess Pat: Being the full account of the capture and fifteen months' imprisonment of Corporal Edwards, of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and his final escape from Germany into Holland

In Short

This memoir records the experiences of Corporal Edward Edwards, an original member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, following his capture by German forces in May 1915. It details the brutal realities of World War I prisoner-of-war camps, from starvation diet to official abuse, and chronicles his relentless attempts to break out. Edwards eventually succeeds in a grueling, three-week trek across hostile terrain into neutral Holland. The book endures as an unvarnished, authentic personal account of battlefield survival, the psychological toll of imprisonment, and the unyielding determination to regain freedom.

The Story

The narrative opens amidst the absolute chaos of the Western Front in May 1915. Corporal Edwards rejoins his battalion, the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, near Ypres just as a massive German artillery bombardment obliterates their trenches at Polygon Wood. The Canadians suffer appalling casualties, enduring heavy shelling, buried machine-gun crews, and jammed rifles. As waves of German infantry swarm their unprotected flanks, Edwards and his surviving comrades are overrun and taken prisoner.

Immediately upon capture, Edwards faces hostile interrogation by a German general. By slyly exaggerating the size of Allied forces, he navigates the danger and avoids immediate execution. Transported to Germany in crowded trains, the prisoners arrive at the Giessen camp, where hostile crowds of civilians mock, hit, and spit on them.

Life in Giessen and subsequent camps is defined by systemic starvation, rigid discipline, and pervasive cruelty. Prisoners subsist on dismal rations of acorn coffee and thin, nutrient-poor soup. Guards enforce orders with bayonets, and those caught committing minor infractions suffer harsh punishments, including being bound tightly to wooden posts. Despite these oppressive conditions, Edwards remains undeterred and begins plotting his escape.

His initial breakout attempt with a comrade collapses when his partner panics in the woods, terrified by the sounds of village life and distant dogs, forcing them back. Transfer to harsher punishment camps, such as Parniewinkel, only hardens Edwards' resolve. Marked as a dangerous prisoner with painted circles on his clothing, he forms a partnership with a fellow prisoner named Simmons.

After months of meticulous preparation—saving twenty days of meager rations and acquiring a tiny compass smuggled inside a cream cheese sent from Canada—Edwards and Simmons make their move. They break out into the night and begin a grueling march toward the Dutch border, traveling exclusively under cover of darkness to avoid detection.

Their trek is a harrowing endurance test through cold rain, dense forests, and treacherous peat swamps. They survive by foraging raw turnips, beets, and apples, and stealing fresh milk from pasture cows. They cross broad rivers like the Weser and Ems by finding abandoned boats or swimming through freezing waters. Footwear rots away, forcing them to wrap their bleeding feet in makeshift cloth bindings. After weeks of avoiding patrols, guard dogs, and lit towns, they cross the border into Holland, where welcoming Dutch villagers feed them steaming meals and celebrate their freedom.

How It Unfolds

Disaster at Polygon Wood A catastrophic German bombardment levels the frontline trenches, leaving the Canadian regiment isolated, battered, and surrounded. Edwards fights until his bayonet breaks and German soldiers swarm the parapet, forcing his surrender.

Interrogation and Arrival at Giessen Edwards parries aggressive questioning from an enemy general by offering wildly inflated numbers regarding Allied troops. He is shipped via train to Giessen, enduring verbal and physical abuse from angry civilian crowds upon arrival.

The Grinding Cruelty of Captivity Imprisoned under harsh conditions, Edwards adapts to near-starvation rations of acorn coffee and potato-rye bread. Guards brutally suppress minor infractions, while official propaganda attempts to sow discord among Allied nationalities.

The First Escape Collapses Slipping away from a work detail at the edge of a forest, Edwards attempts to flee toward Switzerland. The escape fails when his companion panics over distant dog barks and houses, compelling a bitter retreat to camp.

Sentence in the Punishment Camps Transferred to stricter camps like Parniewinkel as a marked, dangerous prisoner, Edwards undergoes solitary confinement and hard labor. His suit is painted with bright target-like circles to keep him under constant surveillance.

Smuggling the Compass A care package from home containing a small cream cheese hides a tiny compass inside its center. Edwards and Simmons store twenty days' worth of saved biscuits, patiently awaiting an opportunity to breach the camp perimeter.

The Nightmare March Slipping past sentries and guard dogs, the two men march west through driving rain and icy peat bogs. They hide in wet hedges by day and navigate by night, sustained only by stolen raw crops and milk from pastured cows.

Crossing the Ems into Freedom After swimming freezing rivers and crawling through final border swamps, they successfully step onto neutral Dutch soil. Generous villagers welcome the exhausted, emaciated escapees with warm food, coffee, and cigars.

The People

• Corporal Edward Edwards: An experienced, resourceful veteran who served in India and Africa prior to joining the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Driven by an intense desire for freedom and home, he maintains his composure through shellfire, interrogation, and severe starvation. His practical intelligence and refusal to break under cruel punishments enable him to survive captivity and engineer a successful escape.
• Simmons: Edwards' steady escape partner during the final, successful journey to Holland. He shares Edwards' cautious, disciplined approach to survival, enduring months of watchful waiting in the punishment camps. Simmons demonstrates quiet ingenuity, obtaining the vital pocket compass hidden inside a cheese sent by his family in Canada.
• Todeschi: A fellow captured soldier who uses his knowledge of the German language to demand water from his captors after being critically wounded. He survives a rough, unanesthetized field amputation and is later exchanged.
• Scott: A Canadian soldier separated from the regiment who blends into an English battalion. When Germans search specifically for Canadians, his comrades quickly replace his unique uniform buttons with their own using matchsticks, saving him from targeted retaliation.

In Its Own Voice

"The rest was chaos, a bit of pure hell. Men struggling, buried alive and looking at us for the aid they would not ask for."

Edwards describes the overwhelming destruction and collapse of the trenches during the final enemy assault at Polygon Wood.

"There were twelve thousand men in the camp and eight hundred in the laager. The majority were Russian and French with a fairish sprinkling of Belgians."

A glimpse into the massive, multinational scale of the German prisoner-of-war camp at Giessen.

"We gingerly unwrapped the tin foil and broke it open. To our great joy, in the hollow heart of it there was tucked away the tiny compass Simmons had written for..."

The crucial moment of discovery when a smuggled tool makes their final escape possible.

What It's Really About

Beneath its immediate narrative of soldierly adventure, the book explores the psychological struggle to preserve personal dignity and agency when stripped of all rights. It examines how human beings endure systemic starvation, isolation, and institutionalized cruelty without losing their resolve. The narrative contrasts the senseless destruction of modern industrialized warfare with the quiet, individual solidarity formed among prisoners of different nations. Ultimately, it is a testament to the instinct for freedom, demonstrating how foresight, patience, and mutual trust can overcome seemingly impossible physical odds.

Why Read It Today

This memoir offers an authentic, unvarnished window into the daily realities of World War I captivity, far removed from sanitized history books. Readers drawn to military history and true survival stories will appreciate its straightforward tone and realistic focus on practical details—such as navigating bogs by ear, making makeshift socks from stolen shirts, and carefully smoking tobacco down to the ash.

The prose is spare, confident, and direct, reflecting the voice of an experienced frontline soldier. While modern readers may encounter occasional period language and stark descriptions of wartime brutality, the story never wallows in sensationalism. Its power lies in its honesty: Edwards acknowledges his own fear, the heartbreak of failed attempts, and the physical degradation of prolonged hunger. What stays with the reader is the incredible resilience of two ordinary men who simply refused to remain captive.